WHO restructures management and cuts departments to streamline operations amid funding crisis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is confronting a salary gap exceeding $500 million for its 2026-2027 budget cycle, Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus revealed at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva. To protect financial health, the WHO is reducing spending on travel, procurement, recruitment, and early retirement, while also cutting its workforce.
“We are facing a salary gap for the next biennium of more than $500 million,” Mr Ghebreyesus said. “The Secretariat has taken a range of measures to curtail costs, but still, there is no alternative but to reduce the size of our workforce.”
The organisation has streamlined its structure, halving departments from 76 to 34 and shrinking the executive management team from 14 to seven. The WHO now proposes a $4.2 billion programme budget—a 21% cut from the original $5.3 billion.
“Assuming you approve the increase in assessed contributions, we have already secured more than $2.6 billion,” he added, warning that mobilising the remaining $1.7 billion will be challenging.